Down in Puerto Vallarta earlier this year, I happened on a fisherman out early on his rounds. He had positioned himself just off a sandbank, taking full advantage of the ocean swells to deliver the catch to him.
The scene, on that bright sunny morning, was one of timelessness. For how many thousands—tens of thousands—of years, have humans engaged in this simple activity? Anthropologists say 40,000 years at least, perhaps more.
The scene was also one of simplicity. Not for this fisherman the factory trawlers, ravaging the ocean bottom and every living thing in their wake. So the scene speaks to me of sustainability. Of a human scale.
I spent some time trying to get a glint of sun off the net in mid throw. Fortunately, he would cast every two or three minutes so I had several goes at it.
At one point I called out to him in my rusty Spanish, “¿Hay mucho peces hoy?” He pulled two good sized ones from the bottom of the boat.
“Una comida por tu familia?”
“No, los vendrá a un restaurante.”
We exchanged names. His is Carlos. His boat is the Elizabeth Susana.